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Friday, November 7, 2014

Next week we celebrate Veterans Day. If you see a soldier, please thank them for their service. If you see a soldiers' family, please thank them, too. If you're looking for a way to give back beyond this one day per year, consider searching for volunteer opportunities on sites like VolunteerMatch, The Wounded Warrior Project, your local USO, or Feeding America (which often host a military food pantry).

Friday, October 31, 2014

This is a sponsored post on behalf of the Nestle company's Coca Plan initiative. When I was a kid, we lived in a suburb about an hour south of Chicago. In the summers before we moved to California, my parents used to drag me to a “you pick it” farm all the way in Indiana. After hours in the car, we’d spent the rest of the day filling trash bags with different vegetables. My mom would wash and freeze them so that we’d have fresh vegetables all through the winter (it wasn’t uncommon for us to get completely snowed in for days at a time). My parents, along with three of their best friends, would also buy a side of beef, have it butchered and divided among the four families. It seems my parents were locavores well before the term existed. I will raise my hand right now and admit I am not the most conscientious consumer. When I’m shopping, be it for clothes, shoes or groceries, my focus is on finding the best value for my dollar. If I have to drive around town or spend time doing research to get the best deal, so be it. I happily donate items to Goodwill and sell Tyler’s gently used clothes on Craigslist. I’ve purchased from a thrift store only twice in my life because the deals were too amazeballs to pass up. I am a creature of shopping habit. But, for the past few months I’ve been re-evaluating my habits. I’ve been paying more attention to the articles appearing in my Facebook feed with subjects about sustainability, ethics, and responsibility. I’ve read up on slow food, fair trade, farm to table, CSA’s and even composting for city dwellers. It’s a lot of information, and frankly a little overwhelming. So much of the information I’m finding seems to be about living a certain lifestyle and making very deliberate choices. I’ll be honest; a lifestyle overhaul is not going to happen. I won’t say I’m too lazy to make big changes, but I have to acknowledge that some of the stores we shop in, like the Commissary and Exchange, aren’t going to have a large selection of socially conscious items. At the end of the day, my bottom line is still a top priority. I do know it’s time to start reducing our footprint and paying more attention to what we buy and who we buy it from.
Change doesn’t happen overnight. Small shifts can add up. I’ve made a list of 10 easy, manageable steps we can start taking toward a more sustainable household. Some cost a bit more, some require a bit of effort and some are only a matter of creating new habits.

1. Join a CSA. This one won’t be easy for my family to implement. We’re not very adventurous when it comes to our vegetables. We tend to eat the same things over and over again. I’ve seen a few of my friends’ boxes and have had to do an Internet search to find out what some of the items are. If I could find a fruit only CSA, that would be a big hit at home. 2. Follow the Rule of Three when clothes shopping. Last year I went to an event for My Sister’s Closet (an upscale retail shop, where I found one of the amazeballs deals), and a personal shopper/stylist spoke to us about creating a user-friendly closet and how to put outfits together. One thing she said stuck with me: when you're out shopping, if you want to buy an item, you have to be able to picture it working with at least three other items you own. I’ve taken that to heart and become less of an impulse shopper. 3.Make friends with your grocery store staff. We’re really lucky we live in an area with easy access to stores like Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, Fresh & Easy and Whole Foods. It’s usually really easy to spot locally made products and most of the staff are more than happy to make a recommendation. 4. Consider buying into a local, grass-fed farm program. This is the one that can get pricey depending on what farm you choose. We’re not going to go vegetarian, but I feel it’s irresponsible for me to not at least look into buying meats that have been raised locally and ethically. If we decide to try this, we’re going to split the order with another family to keep the monthly payments reasonable. 5. Switch a few of your pantry staples to Fair Trade and/or Certified Organic. I’m embarrassed I never though of this before: I typed “fair trade certified pantry” into my search engine and wouldn’t you know? Amazon has an entire section for this! Seasonings, coffee, coconut oil, baking spices, sugar; the list was pretty impressive. My husband’s favorite salsa, from Costco, is Certified Organic under the Kirkland brand. I have a feeling if I paid more attention to labels I would find that many of my pantry items can be easily swapped. 6. Do the same for your beauty cabinet. This is another that won’t be easy for us. My skin is pretty sensitive and my husband has eczema so we have to be really careful about bar soap, face wash and laundry soap. Once, I switched his deodorant because there was a great sale to match my coupons (same brand, but a gel not solid). It was a disaster. Fortunately, our son has been able to use them with no problems, but it was a lesson learned the hard way. Still, I’ve added coconut oil as a moisturizer, Vitamin E oil as a leave in conditioner and I’m experimenting with brands of cruelty free deodorant (so far the crystal is pulling ahead). I read a statistic that the average woman puts 500 different chemicals on her body each day. That was sobering. All those chemicals are being absorbed through our skin and washed down our drains. Limiting them is good for our health and the planet. 7. Give gifts that give back. A few weeks ago, a friend was wearing a really pretty necklace. I asked where she bought it and she told me about a store that sells goods handmade by the Maasai. She’d just come from a warehouse sale. I hightailed it over there and bought two packs of greeting cards, five necklaces, two bracelets a cutting board and salad tongs for $52 total. Wedding gift and stocking stuffers? Check. 8. Make the Farmer’s Market a habit. Here’s another one I waffle over. I live in between several weekly markets, but not close enough to walk. It seems counter intuitive to drive 5-8 miles for breads, fruit, flowers and tamales (so good!), but at the same time, we’re supporting local businesses and eating fresh, preservative-free foods that are roughly the same cost as what I’d buy at the store. Every time we do make it to the market, we enjoy the foods we buy and new vendors keep the market interesting. Plus, it's good family time and a chance to be outdoors near the beach (don't hate). 9. Be selective with your charitable giving. Our contributions are almost always to organizations that support military families. I’m sure I could also find an organization that supports sustainability where our dollars are much needed, will go far and will really have an impact. 10. Give in to the power of suggestion. Seriously. I’ve added so many new Facebook pages, followed new people on Twitter, liked Pins and added magazines on Flipboard that are related to sustainability that it’s changed my feeds. I’m consuming more information on these subjects and the companies, brands and products are slowly starting to seep into my consciousness. Repeated exposure has made me so much more aware of issues that used to get very little of my attention. I’m even considering downloading two ethical shopping apps. Will any of this influence my purchasing? Who knows. But now when I shop I ‘spot’ things I might not have paid attention to before. Baby steps.As the saying goes change doesn't always happen overnight. I believe everyone needs to start somewhere and it's usually the smaller, simpler changes that lead us to make even larger ones.

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October is Fair Trade Month and Halloween is one of the largest candy consumption days of the year. Consider buying sustainably sourced treats for Halloween and holiday parties, and sustainably sourced cocoa, sugar and spices for baking. Some facts and statistics about chocolate and Halloween: 75 percent of households plan to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters this year.
Candy sales are expected to reach $2.5 billion this Halloween. About 4% of all candy consumption in the USA occurs on Halloween Nearly 3/4 of Americans (72 percent) say that chocolate is their favorite Halloween treat. Chocolate scored top points among all age groups, but was most popular among those ages 45 to 60 who preferred it over other candies by 78 percent.

Theobroma Cacao is the
tree that produces cocoa beans, and it means “food of the gods.” The most
common tree is Forastero, which accounts for nearly 90% of the world's
production of cacao beans.

It takes 400 cocoa beans to
make one pound of chocolate. Each cacao tree produces approximately 2,500
beans.

There are an estimated 1.5
million cocoa farms in West Africa. The average size of a cocoa farm in West
Africa is 7 to 10 acres.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

This is a sponsored post on behalf of the Touch & Know home drug testing kit. I have a confession to make. Well, not really a confession since it’s not anything I’m ashamed of. Maybe more of an admittance with questions attached. I have virtually no experience with illegal drugs. Or, for that matter, legal ones used in an abusive way.I didn’t have an experimental phase in high school. I wasn’t a huge partyer in college. I didn’t really hang around with people who were into recreational or hard drugs. I heard a great phrase lately that is very apropos to this situation: I didn’t need drugs or alcohol because the circus of humanity was entertaining enough that I’ve never felt the need to be altered to enjoy myself. My dad's career in law enforcement had a little bit to do with it, but mostly I just never got the urge.

As an adult, I’m glad my curiosity never got the better of me. There is addiction in our family tree. Who knows how I would have fared had I decided to do something ‘just this one time.’ On the flip side, as a parent, I kind of feel like my non-drug use has me at a bit of a disadvantage. Unless I saw them take it, I’d be hard pressed to tell if someone was ‘on’ something. I couldn’t identify a coke high versus an acid trip versus… whatever it is mushrooms do. See what I mean? I can’t even use the proper jargon! I don’t know what the current trends are with over the counter and prescription drugs. Is the drug du jour still Oxycontin? Are adults still taking their kids’ ADHD pills? I remember that was a story line from Desperate Housewives, but are people still doing it? I have no idea what the street names for drugs are nowadays. There’s virtually no way I’d recognize a drug by sight and don’t even get me started on social media.
Did you know teens and tweens are buying and selling drugs using apps and social media? That they’re using certain hashtags on Instagram to let others know what kind of drugs will be at the party that night? Go to your Instagram and search s-i-z-z-u-r-p (without the hyphens). My search turned up a little over 33,000 results. The only reason I know about this party drug is because I was researching something else about teens and social media.

Part of growing up can mean learning certain things the hard way. Right now Tyler is pretty adamant that drugs are "stupid." Will he always feel that way? Only time will tell. We're not naive. We haven't fooled ourselves into thinking Tyler will be the exception or that he won't experiment simply because we've told him not to. We know the time is coming where he'll find himself in a situation where he'll have to make a decision. We hope, when the time comes, he makes the right one. What has been gnawing at me lately is, what if he doesn't know he's in that type of situation? Last week I read a Time magazine article about synthetic marijuana that has me completely freaked out. These cannabinoids are becoming increasingly available at convenience stores and gas stations. They are packaged like baseball cards and sold under the name potpourri, glass cleaner or incense. Hopefully, Tyler will never have the type of friend who would trick him into taking drugs, or tell him that something isn't harmful when it is. Phil and I haven't talked about setting up parameters for Tyler. So far it's been: don't do drugs. But we need to be realistic and we need to create an atmosphere where, if he does get into some sort of trouble, he feels comfortable talking to us. I'd like for him to call us from a party and ask for a ride home because he feels uncomfortable or has had too much to drink, and believe us when we say we won't get mad.

On the flip side, we've already told Tyler that while he lives in our house, privacy is a privilege and not a right. The cell phone, computer and iPod he uses are monitored. When it comes to his room, so far we haven't had a reason to go through it. We trust him until he gives us a reason not to. If we were suspicious, I'd like to think we'd have no problem turning his room upside down. How do we balance allowing him a little bit privacy, keeping the lines of communication open and trying to stay on top of what may be happening under our roof? I'm feeling as though there's an enemy out there I can't fight because I don't know what it looks like. I can talk with Tyler about bullying, racism, peer pressure, trying to fit in and lots of other subjects because I've been there, done that. But drugs are uncharted territory. It's all so confusing, overwhelming and a little bit scary. So, finally, here are my questions: how are you parents and caregivers keeping up with the news? Where do you go to educate yourself about what tweens and teens are into? Last month I went to an event with fellow moms where we talked about our kids and our fears surrounding drugs and alcohol. I know that junior high has become the starting point for when kids are hearing about their friends using or their friends' older siblings. It was helpful to hear how the moms with kids Tyler's age started having these important conversations and how the moms with older kids survived! We also learned about a new home drug testing kit. It's specifically designed to test unknown substances. If I were to find something in Tyler's room, the Touch&Know® kit would be able to identify it as harmful or not with only five steps. I know myself and the few extra moments to reign in my emotions and wrap my head around the results, benign or not, would be much needed. As I said, there is addiction in our family. I know now that is the reason my parents and grandparents were so vigilant with me and my brother. They saw addiction first hand and lived with it for years. From their stories, it's not anything I want our family to go through. I have two of the kits in our medicine cabinets. I'm fully prepared to use them, but pray I never have to.

Friday, April 4, 2014

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Grocery Outlet. **This giveaway has ended**

If you have school-aged kids, you already know keeping the pantry stocked with healthier snacks is a challenge. Call me biased, but I think sports parents have it even tougher. If your kid plays, be it on a rec league or travel, you know where I'm coming from. Take, for instance, the following scenario:6:30am Wake up in time to eat breakfast before getting on the road for the hour-long drive to the tournament.8:00am Arrive in time for team warm ups, hear "Mom, I'm still hungry," and throw a snack at your child.9:30am Game is over. Hear "Mom, I'm starving! I will DIE if I don't eat something right this second! DIE I tell you!" Throw a snack at your child while standing with other team parents, using your phones to Google nearby breakfast restaurants.11:00am Google local parks to kill two hours before you have to be back in time for the afternoon game.11:30am Hear, "Mom, do we have anything to eat in the car? I'm thirsty."12:30pm Pile into the car to head back for the afternoon game. Ask, "are you hungry? you should eat now if you are."1:00pm Spot your child from across the arena. He is standing in the doorway to the locker room frantically waving at you with one hand, and pointing to his mouth, pantomiming eating with the other. Throw a snack at your child.2:30pm Second game is over. Start loading the car. Hear, "Mom, I'm hungry." Throw a snack at your child.3:00pm Use your phone to check traffic. It sucks. Steel yourself for two-and-a-half hour drive home.4:30pm Traffic worse than what was on Google Maps. Curse silently because you know what is coming.4:45pm Hear, "Mom, are we stopping anywhere for dinner?" Throw last of the snacks at your child. Hope to Heaven traffic breaks up and you make it home soon.Am I right? Between packing lunches and sports weekends, snack foods have started taking up a bigger portion of my budget. There haven't been too many breakthroughs in terms of the variety of portable, healthier, non-perishables. My choices seem to be cheap and bad for you, or healthy and expensive. Organics? Hardly ever an option. I wasn't sure about taking my local Grocery Outlet up on their snack food challenge. I'm not used to shopping without coupons and couldn't see how I'd be able to save money without them. Plus, I thought the store would be filled with brands I'd never heard of. I was wrong on both counts.

Since I've been paying attention to prices for so long, I have a good sense of when an item is priced well and when (even on 'sale') it is not. This knowledge came in handy while I was shopping. I picked up 26 items* and paid $29.34.

When I took my receipt to Vons to compare, the savings were very clear. I found six items that were identical to the ones I purchased at Grocery Outlet. If I had purchased the same things in the same quantities from Vons, I would have spent $26.85 for only 10 items.

That's a significant difference. Again, since snacks go so quickly in our house, they're something I keep an eye on because they can quickly take over my grocery budget. Now, will I see these same items the next time I go to Grocery Outlet? Maybe. Maybe not. But I'm fine with that. I'd rather a slightly rotating inventory with low prices than the same things over and over. Overall, I'm happy with my first experience and can say with certainty I will go back again.Luckily, Grocery Outlet would like to extend the challenge to you, too. If you live near one of their stores, enter below to win a $25 gift card. You may not be able to see the Rafflecopter widget on mobile devices.

*There should be two more items in the photo: one more Yopa (I got hungry) and a 59oz bottle of Tropicana Orange Tangerine.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. Mel, A Dramatic Mommy is not responsible for prizes lost in the mail or incorrect physical or email addresses. Giveaway is open to residents of the United States, age 18+. Giveaway will close at 11:59PM ET on 4/14/14. Two (2) winners will be selected. Winner(s) will be contacted by email within 48 hours. Winner(s) must respond to me via email within 24 hours or an alternate will be chosen. If you have any additional questions, contact Melanie at ADramaticMommy{@}gmail.com.****I was not compensated for this post. I was provided with a gift card to facilitate my shopping. Opinions are my own. Grocery cart image courtesy of Grant Cochrane and FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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About Melanie

Melanie Sheridan is a Southern California lifestyle blogger writing about her life as a stay at home mom turned work at home mom. She married her high school sweetheart 16 years ago and they share one amazing kid. She is an avid reader, shoe slut, Twitter addict, chocolate fiend, newbie photographer, closet gadget girl, wannabe foodie, late iAdopter, recovering shopaholic and a Pinning Fool. Melanie is very active in San Diego's social media community and freelances with small business owners.